Chapter 92: Easy Apprehension
If he was anyone else, there was sure to be some hindrance that came with balancing two bodies atop a single frame as the land was speeding underneath his feet. Killer Bee, however, wasn't someone that could be easily lumped in with everybody else, or anybody else for that matter. The dull pink chakra of Gyuuki served as a more than accommodating aid as a pair of tentacles wrapped themselves around the bodies of his would-be attackers. While Bee blazed a trail southward, intent on meeting with his brother to discuss the whos and whats of the cloaked men that tried to pry the Cloud Village's Jinchuuriki from within the borders of the Land of lightning. Now, could he have merely brought them to the village himself, held them there, and waited for his brother to return? Absolutely. In fact, Bee was sure that Ai would tell him to do just that when he arrived, but it wasn't that simple.
Killer Bee was a prideful man, but he wasn't so much so that he couldn't admit some hard truths. He had been careless at the start of his fight against the pair of men that idly hung behind his back as he sprinted through the Land of Hot Springs. He had been trapped by the mysterious technique that Hidan could have used to kill him shortly after he was caught. Had the arena they fought within not been almost aligned with sea's level to wash away the array of blood, it could have easily been him that was being carried by the black threads of Kakuzu. What if others of similar strength striked the battlefield that Yugito battled on? She wouldn't be able to fight for her Kage and her life against such opponents without threatening their countrymen in the process. Bee needed to be there to warn them and help if anything else happened.
It was also a benefit that his figurative shackles that kept him bound to the Land of Lightning could be heard clattering to the ground the moment he thought about bringing his attackers to his brother's attention.
In truth, the idea came to him after much deliberation when his mind had still been foggy from a deep, restful slumber. The force that rebounded on Bee when Gyuuki's refined and concentrated chakra met the might of Kakuzu's concentrated power sent the Jinchuuriki into a rock face that led him into a swift sleep. There wasn't much space between himself and the meeting attacks that could help disperse the power, there wasn't any buffer that found itself between Bee's head and the rock it met, and there wasn't much he had at his disposal to combat the fatigue that came from using so much of the Tailed-Beast's chakra. The ball of pure, spinning chakra that flowed directly through him as a vessel for the Eight-Tails was a lot even for a seasoned Jinchuuriki as he was. Had he done it without the extra hindrances, without the head collision, previous injuries, and chakra expenditures of the fight leading up to the Tailed-Beast Ball, Bee would have been able to remain awake through his fatigue.
It was safe to say, however, that his brief rest was more than enough to reinvigorate the Jinchuuriki once his eyes opened once again. Hours had passed, clearly seen by the long shadows that weren't present during his midday bout, but when he woke up, Bee was in the same position he fuzzily remembered collapsing upon. When his eyes opened with a few laboring grunts and a flutter of fast blinks, his eyes could only find crumbled rock in his view darkened by the shades that sat awkwardly upon his face. What was once a soft, eroded shelf of rock that he used for training over the years was now a crumbled mash of broken, jagged stone that had sloshing water spouting through the countless cracks and gaps in rock. The once stout, though worn, platform of rock was now a mild storm away from being pulled into the briny waters. It was within these broken stones and rocks that Bee found his attackers trapped and unmoving.
Hidan was the easier of the pair to find, but that wasn't due to fortunate positioning within the upturned and layered fractures of stone. Rather, it was because Hidan was so precariously positioned from the explosion of chakra that the seemingly undying man was forced to shout his frustrations loudly and constantly. Killer Bee could only imagine the profanities that came from the man, but it was forced to stay in his imagination as it all came out as unrecognized blurbles that came from a half-submerged face that poked through a mass of stone. The moment Bee caught sight of the man a daggering glare was sent his way as the unburied head of the man lashed in the shallow movements that were allowed to him. The stones were easy enough to move, most of them only one hearty nudge away from drifting off into the sea, but it was removing the man without having to be worried about being ensnared by his bizarre ritual was the bigger issue. The hole may not have still showed in his dark skin, the flesh thoroughly healed over in his slumber, but the pain was easy enough to remember on its own.
It was an off-hand comment from the Giant Ox confined within the seal on his shoulder that gave him the idea to simply keep him wrapped up in Gyuuki's chakra until he found what exactly to do with him. Hidan's partner, though, was a much easier acquisition. Kakuzu wasn't as thoroughly buried in rock, a few moderately sized stones trapping his legs just below the water as he laid face down on a shattered and uneven surface, but the man still stayed unmoved. Bee, with Hidan raised behind his back and muffled by the winding octopus tentacle of chakra, took much more care approaching the odd beast that hid under a man's skin. At any moment a mass of threads could tear through the downed man's skin and attempt to skewer the Jinchuuriki, though it seemed to take a long while for those lancing threads to make an appearance. It was only at the muffled surrender of the lying man that pushed Bee into truly approaching the man. "Hurry up and drag me from here if you're going to, otherwise let me die in peace." Kakuzu had said, not a muscle moving in accordance to the harsh, but ailing voice.
Normally, it would be easy to wave off the words as a distraction to lower Bee's guard, but the words were more convincing when they were joined by the shattered white masks that were freely displayed on a stitched together back. Thin, frail flesh was pulled together and connected by the same threads that pooled lifelessly outside the wrists that still lacked the hands Bee removed in their fight. The masks were all sewn in place tightly together at the center of the man's back, but their broken faces gave an inward look to the sea of threads that the Jinchuuriki saw flow aggressively out of the man's body. The threads were unmoving just as those that lay outside of the wrists and lacked the disconcerting jolts and ripples that they held when Bee fought Kakuzu. They simply seemed lifeless.
Kakuzu and Hidan were both deliberately and tightly bound by winding tentacles that wouldn't be bypassed by anyone without directly warning Bee of their movements. The tentacles restricted his captors movements and sealed their mouths from opening through the pink chakra. Bee didn't acknowledge the men when he traveled, stopped to eat, or even when he was workshopping his rhymes to fill the silent air around them. He had nothing to say to them and wouldn't trust a word that came from their mouths if he tried to ask them who they were and what they wanted with him. Ai would have a better grasp of what to do, his position might have granted him some rumor or information that came with the black cloaks and red clouds, and, coincidentally, Bee always wanted to see the Land of Fire and the forests that so differed the terrain of the Land of Lightning.
The first bit of forestry that he encountered, however, came just before he passed the collapsed section of the wall that seemed to have served as the starting ground for his brother's war. He saw a small section of destroyed and collapsed trees that stood out in the otherwise empty plain of grass that lay before the once mighty border wall. Amongst the fallen trees of the small wooded section was a singular wrapping of what seemed to be roots that cocooned around something that Bee didn't know. The cluster of roots were no bigger than Bee, if anything a bit smaller, and on top of them sat a single flower that showed brightly amongst destruction. It tugged at the Jinchuuriki's curiosity, both the trees and the bundle of roots that stood amongst the rest, but he didn't linger more than necessary. As he bypassed the border of the Land of Fire, Bee followed the scars of battle that traveled south in a winding, exhaustive path. What Bee had once wished to be a peaceful appreciation of nature that he had little experience with was tainted by seeing the dead bodies of his countrymen laying next to the bodies of Leaf shinobi that they fought against. The winding path of destruction was one that was painted with blood in every way imaginable.
Killer Bee was no green boy when it came to war. He was a man, albeit a young man, when the Third Great Shinobi War was in full effect. He fought and killed more than his fair share and he faced more perils than he ever had in any other point in his life. Ai and Bee were unbeaten on a battlefield together, yet it was one man that was able to be faster than Ai and came merely inches away from outmaneuvering Bee and the eight tails that Gyuuki allowed him to utilize. Minato Namikaze was someone, though an enemy, that Bee would always respect. The three of them, Ai, Bee, and Namikaze, agreed to leave that battleground peacefully, but Bee couldn't guarantee that he and his brother would be leaving those grounds alive if they hadn't come to an understanding. This war, one that Ai had assured Bee to be one that would inevitably end with the symbol of the Cloud and the colors of the Land of Lightning flying high amongst the ashes of the Leaf, would be no different than the last. It was bloody and would show threats that nobody could prepare for.
When Bee finally caught up to the rear of his brother's army, it had been morning still. Just over a day and a half of constant, chakra rushing travel made up ground that most wouldn't be able to match and brought Killer Bee into the portion of the portion of ground dedicated to the wounded and tired. The Sun rose with light coming through to cast a warming light onto his face as he maneuvered through the men and women as gasps and murmurs followed him closely. His countrymen, those that he's served the Cloud Village alongside, looked at him as if he was to be their savior. It was drastically different from the visible distrust that was thrown at him when he became the Eight-Tails' Jinchuuriki, it was even a strong difference from the muted pride that came from his brother passing along the title of Protector to him, and it was a difference that told him all he needed to know. This campaign was not one that was fought with ease.
The steadily growing murmurs that followed him warned his brother, and the guards that constantly shadowed him, to his presence long before Bee ever spoke up. He watched the eyes of not only Ai, but Darui, Cee, Samui, and the pair of chunin that Samui still watched over, all dancing from the men in his tentacled grasp and back to the face of the Jinchuuriki. While those around him were either shocked or in awe at Bee's arrival, the Jinchuuriki was quick to identify the rage that settled swiftly over his brother's visage. Eyebrows were furrowed so tightly it became a single worm of light hair above his eyes, the tiny tufts of hair that made up his mustache were angled upwards at how aggressive the frown on his face was, fists quaked under the massive golden gauntlets on his arms, and dark skin took a subtle shade of pink at how much blood was being pushed to the Raikage's face, that pink becoming red in the edges of his eyes. Ai was always known for his explosive rage, a rage that so dramatically opposed Bee's natural nature, but Bee never was daunted by it. When you lived in a land of resounding storms, the sounds of cooking thunder and crackling lightning were small deterrents.
"Before you blow up, big bro, let me tell you a story of how I turned this duo into a trio." The pink chakra tentacles at Killer Bee's back surged forward to bring the two captured shinobi in line with himself before his brother. Ai didn't give the two bound men so much as a glance as a rumbling growl left his throat and the gleam of white teeth poked out of his frowning lips. Well, that didn't work. Maybe there wasn't a chance for him to calm his brother when Ai was so thoroughly engrossed in a war, but Bee considered it a worthwhile attempt. Nobody said any words between his statement to his brother and Ai's explosive response, any murmurs being silenced by the palpable fury rolling off of their leader.
"A story? You disobey my orders, enter a battlefield I forbade you from, and you show off two nobodies to me as if I am not watching my men and women be blooded before me, but you expect me to NOT BLOW UP?!" Veins could be seen crawling through the muscles of his brother's chest and bulging disturbingly throughout his neck and face as the Raikage's voice mounted more and more. Lightning crackled around Ai's form, the man's rage making him fall into habitual techniques that put a distinct charge in the air. "I have lost one Jinchuuriki and comrade in Yugito during this campaign. The same will not be said about my own brother because he was too foolhardy to listen to his Kage! I don't care who you hold or why, just make sure they don't distract you in your return to our borders."
Despite the anticipatedly explosive start, Ai quickly quieted to a dangerous simmer soon after. It was such a stark difference in attitude, such a difference from what Bee was used to, it caught the Jinchuuriki wholly off-guard. Eyebrows lifted off the ridge of his dark lenses as he continued to keep his brother's gaze, but kept the silence of the area in tact. Fighting could still be heard clearly from what was now at Ai's back, vibrations ran down the chakra tentacle that grasped Hidan as the man tried to muffle through words that could barely be heard over the light breeze of the morning.
The news of Yugito hurt. It would be a matter that would have to be addressed later, but it was nothing less than a tragedy that didn't simply befall the Land of Lightning or Cloud Village because she was a Jinchuuriki. It was a tragedy that a woman burdened with a responsibility such as theirs wouldn't be known as more than that. She was a weapon, a mistrusted container of a mighty strength that most looked at no less than two ways. She hadn't the benefit of a brother that could bestow her a grand title as Bee did, leaving her to be known as the stoic soldier that she wasn't, at least not entirely. He would mourn her, but Bee had to keep his brother from hearing why he was here. Bee never saw her body on his trip south, the flower topped wooden cocoon came to mind, but it felt just as likely that more dark cloaks retrieved her just as they tried with him.
"You're not listening to me, Ai. I understand I can be a handful, but that is not today." The trenches that were already formed by the pinched facial expression of his brother deepened at the immediate denial of his orders. A denial that was heard in front of his shinobi without restraint. "These fools here came after me like some kind of prize, only Gyuuki's presence keeping me from my demise."
Finally breaking eye contact to look at the pair of shinobi that Bee held before him, Ai inspected the two with a clenched jaw that pulsed with surging tension. The Kage took two steps forward and approached the tentacle that held Hidan on Bee's left side, strained noises coming from the bound man going ignored still.
"Does my brother speak true? Did you attack the Cloud's Jinchuuriki for a chance at his might?" Ai's words rolled out like the rumbling thunder of the lands they lived within, the anger that still wrapped around him being tamped down with a small amount of restraint to hear Bee's plea. Few have ever been able to get his brother to reach any kind of pause, less so since his ascension to the position of Raikage, but brothers would always be brothers. At first, Hidan responded in another series of muffled words before Ai glanced at the Jinchuuriki, allowing the chakra tentacle to melt away from Hidan's mouth.
"Thank Jashin, I thought this idiot would find a way to suffocate me to death." Hidan's mouth immediately began to pour out words in quick succession. It only took moments before Ai cut the man off.
"Shut your mouth and answer my question. Does my brother speak true?" He asked again with the same thick tone sitting at a sharp contrast from Hidan's own.
"How the hell am I supposed to know what he says? You can understand the fucking poems he speaks in?" The clap of flesh on flesh was swift, the back hand of the Raikage crossing the face of Hidan in a sharp snap. Hidan's head cut harshly from the slap's force but he stayed sternly in the chakra tentacle's grip. Bee quickly caught his brother's gaze as he stepped away from Hidan and toward Kakuzu, the mouth of Hidan quickly being covered once again. Ai stood before Kakuzu's elevated form with an eyebrow curled upward in challenge. When Bee's second captee spoke up the words came with much more use to both brothers.
"We are a part of an organization that has been collecting the Jinchuuriki of the Elemental Nations. Your brother speaks strangely, but he speaks true." Kakuzu sounded as if he lacked all life. His voice seemed to have aged decades within a couple of days, as did his body. Tanned skin now took a sickly shade of gray and white showed at the roots of hair that was once entirely black.
Ai nodded at the man, bringing his gaze back to Bee. Eyes drilled through the dark lenses in front of Bee's eyes with a dangerously still intensity. A frown was settling on his face before his brother spoke, knowing what was to come. He was going to be sent back to the village without any further discussion, left to wait for his brother to be finished here.
"I want all that there is to be known gathered by the time I return with the hat of Kakashi Hatake in my hands. When the Leaf is handled, our gaze will turn to those that think they can attack my brother. See that this is done without any distractions, Bee." That was all that was to be said. Killer Be knew when Ai put on his Raikage mantle for him, when his words were that of his leader and not those of his brother. He would follow the words, listen to the orders given to him, but he wouldn't act like he wasn't disappointed by the order. The frown on his face wasn't hidden in the slightest.
"Bee, behind you!" The strangled and worried voice of his partner within him called out emphatically within his mind. Bee's body moved without knowing what it was he was moving away from, before he saw or felt what it was Gyuuki warned him against but he didn't need to know. If Eight-O told him to move, Bee would move and figure out the rest later. Feet left the ground at a cocked angle, allowing Bee to lift off the ground and turn toward his back immediately. His head turned with his body, eyes cutting to the edge of his vision as he caught the sight of swirling air that revealed a bright orange mask that held a bright red orb within its singular hole. The tentacle of chakra that held Hidan whipped at the approaching body, but the lashing appendage hit nothing but air as it passed through the form of another body that was covered in a dark cloak and red clouds.
Another pair of tentacles exploded from Bee's back, both of them jutting forward at the swiftly charging mask and they went through the person just as the first had. His feet met the ground, arms raising to accept the attack from the new-coming challenger. Idly, Bee acknowledged the clattering sound of chains that he didn't immediately see, but it was something that the Jinchuuriki would save for when he had the chance. His focus was limited to the hands that grasped forward without any sort of martial prowess, like a brawler trying to grasp onto the first thing they could catch. Bee took a strong step forward before he lashed out a kick at the closely approaching attacker, the leg aimed to ram into the cloaked figure's lowered shoulder.
The leg, like the tentacles, passed through the body like it was nothing but air. Just as his attacks hit nothing but air, the attacker's strike passed through Bee all the same, making two become one as Bee was passed through and the Jinchuuriki was finally introduced to the snapping and clattering chain that flew behind the incorporeal attacker. As opposed to their bodies interacting with each other, the chain was solid, snapping into Bee's stomach with taut tension as a deep, rasping voice came from behind him.
"I win."
"BEE!"
There was no overstating just how close they were. Ever since he was a boy, barely old enough to falsely claim to be a man, his dedication to the answer his mentor and master gave him when he had nothing else was unwavering. Still, while the closeness to their goal couldn't be overstated, he wouldn't allow the stresses that he felt in this final stretch be understated. His eye throbbed viciously when he used his Mangekyo's ability too swiftly next to each other, his mind ached when he tried to predict and determine every step that could be taken by every player still on the board, and the amount of gamesmanship that was still needed was exhausting. Nagato had to be left with as little suspicion as he could manage for a little longer, the Jinchuuriki still had to be fully gathered, and there was still the delusion of Itachi that had to be minded.
Nagato would be a non-issue in due time, as would the issue of the Jinchuuriki, but his newest associate in their goals was one that was hard to place. His master recommended using the man as he would use himself, as an arm to further their plans, but it was hard to trust someone focused on what wasn't there. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't going to side with them, he wasn't intent on seeing the change that they were, and yet Itachi seemed firm on dragging the boy he had forced to be dedicated to becoming his own murderer to listen to reason. Whatever it was that drove Itachi to kill their clansmen, from the healthiest of men to the weakest of elderly, women, and children, was enough to taint whatever foresight Itachi may have had. Their clan was flawed, their clan was lost, but they were still the Uchiha. They were the blood of those that would bring peace. Now, however, that blood was limited to a precious few. Still, Itachi wasn't someone that could simply be removed. He was strong enough to pose more than just a challenge, and so those delusions had to be tolerated until they simply could not be.
As Obito gazed upon the seat that had tubes that brought fluid in and out every which way, a seat that had melded itself to that of his aged master, and a seat that would soon be empty, he could only sigh as he listened to Zetsu relay what they had to. It was always a hassle listening to the squabbling of the pair of oddities that came from his master's peculiar experimenting, but the information they had to share was pertinent. From what he could tell, in his piecing out of useful and useless, the Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki would be just east of the target point soon. It was almost his time to enter the scene once again, displaying himself to more people than he has in almost twenty years. Three remained, and if the next twelve hours worked out right then it would quickly be two.
"I want there to be a clear board, Obito. None can stand upright once we show ourselves and the power we intend to wield." Half-dead words from a man that's been half-dead for countless years, but the words were true all the same. They were always true. If they wanted peace, no other true standings of power could remain. Obito nodded easily before he walked off to prepare for the morning.
Their holdings have moved once or twice in the years Obito has been in the service of his master, but no matter where they were, no matter where they went, the setting never seemed to truly shift. Darkness was a friend, a friend easily found in the ground that shielded them from any prying eyes. At first, Obito was met with something akin to a laboratory with thick walls and large cavernous rooms that grew his master's experiments, but now it was simply a few stone rooms dug into the ground and covered by a thick blanket of greenery from above to blend into their surroundings. Grass grew tall above them, swaying in the breeze and constantly hiding the predators of the land. What was one more secret?
Obito slept soundly on a cot in a small, dark room that he created for himself when they settled in this most recent location. Chakra-crafted walls were stout and smooth around him, keeping in the dank and cool air of their underground dwelling, and the sounds of nature above poured in with the moonlight through small rectangular openings in the ceiling. The occasional bug or small animal would slink into their rooms through these holes, but it was a small inconvenience. Zetsu, specifically the white half, seemed to get a kick out of catching whatever wildlife mingled around with them.
When his head hit the pillow, a head that was relieved of the mask that constantly hid his visage from those in the world above, there was a constant pounding that filled his head, a pounding throb that thrummed from his eye. Obito has had access to his Mangekyo Sharingan for a long time, time he has used to master his single eye more thoroughly than any could think was possible. His master had told him as much. The one thing he hasn't mastered, however, was the trick of being able to use the strength of his Kamui, utilizing space-time ninjutsu with a mere thought, without being drained so thoroughly. His stamina has increased a thousand-fold over the years, hardly being able to use it more than once, but when he was constantly traveling across the Elemental Nations it was easy to reach his limit. It made sleeping upon his cot an easy task, the darkness quickly swallowing him once his eye closed.
Dreams came and went for everybody, but Obito was constantly faced with the same sights within his sleep. Some nights it was dreams of who he's lost, other times it was of what could have been, or even what will be once he has completed his task, but tonight he was granted the images that he hasn't seen in some time. Memories of the past, specifically a memory that sent him in this path.
His vision was still halved when he stared up to the sky that appeared between the branches and leaves of the forestry he couldn't see but knew was around him, but it was the other eye that he saw out of, an eye that was thoroughly used to darkness at this point of his life. The right side of his body was heavy, painfully so. The skin on his face was being pulled from the bone, the bones of his arm, leg, and torso were screaming in agony, and his head felt as if it was going to pop. A mass of stone far bigger than needed to crush a teenager sat upon him and squeezed the life that he desperately wanted to cling to. A glimmer of tall standing silver hair was seen at the edge of his vision, as was the top of a head full of short brown hair. Their despair was clearly heard, the cries of someone he adored for far too long and the silent tears of a boy he's been enviously chasing since they were placed on the same team filled the ear that didn't hear the awkward muffled air being his boulder. He said some words, as did they, but those words were lost to him. If he tried to remember them, maybe he'd find them, but in his dream it was nothing but echoed warbles until silver hair drew closer to him. Obito didn't know where the surety came from as he looked at the slashed eye of his teammate, but it only took minutes before his vision went totally black and he was left alone with his rock, his mind, and his death. The dream only ended when the stone was impossibly lifted off his crushed body and the layered voice of Zetsu filled his ears.
When he awoke, Obito couldn't pin the emotion he felt. Was it anger? What was he angry at? His teammates weren't wrong to leave him, he was sure that he told them to go. Was he angry at the boulder? It hadn't even succeeded in killing him and it brought him down a greater path than he could have walked if he followed the same bloody trail as his predecessors. Wherever the anger came from, wherever it was directed, it mattered little and less now. The pale light of the early morning could be seen above him, the sounds of morning bugs and birds chorused in its own symphony, and the dew of the morning rolled down the sturdy walls of his own construction around him. Obito rose from his cot in a small jolt, bringing his hands over his face to wipe the sleep out of it, feeling the wrinkled skin that was still marred from the very same boulder all those years ago. Sagging skin that likely made half of his face look decades older than the other half was still numb to the touch, like a ghost was feathering touches across his skin.
The mask he wore was foregone for just a little longer as Obito shirked on the bulky cloak of the Akatsuki, letting the black and red of the organization he mockingly displayed upon himself cover the dark blue high-collared shirt that sat over dark, loose fitting pants. When he left his small dwelling, mask in hand, Obito was met with the ever-present one eye gaze that drilled into him. No words were spoken, all of what needed to be said had already been for some time now, and Obito searched the ground for something he would need for simplicity's sake. A heavy chain was spotted in a corner that sat behind his old and silent master, coiled into several circles as each clasping end sat next to each other. Obito didn't need a second to clamp the ends of the chain to his wrists, locking the length of the chain around him as it now scraped loudly on the ground behind him.
"When it is done, return here. We will have only a short time to establish ourselves before Nagato and his puppets move." His master took a deep breath, even sentences requiring more energy than the elderly man could spare. "When the statue moves, we move. Once that is done, we will have won, Obito." Another breath. "Peace can finally reign under one banner. One God."
Peace. It was a beautiful goal. At the sound of the word, Obito remembered why he woke up so angry. There wasn't a single reason why he should have been on a battlefield. He was a boy no older than thirteen and he was already fighting a war between villages whose grudges extended far longer than his life and showed to have extended far beyond it. Every generation that passes, an ocean of blood is fed to the ground only for the conflicts to only burn deeper and brighter. How many others faced the same crushing fate as himself, condemned to be crushed and forgotten in darkness? How many more will follow? His master promised him a way to end it all, to carve a path toward a world that was led by him, by their family, and a world that didn't need so many battles and bloodshed to exist. It was a goal that he would claw for as long as he breathed. It was a dream that made it easy to slink through the gash he created within space and glade across the continent to ensnare the Eight-Tail Jinchuuriki.
Having the gift of catching anyone and everyone off-guard made life easy for a man trained to kill, and doubly so for a man intending to capture. The moment he appeared at the back of the Jinchuuriki, given the sight of chakra appendages that held the pair that were meant to capture the man in the first place, Obito knew he had won. None of the Cloud shinobi could react to him in time. Even the Raikage, who Obito watched closely as he phased through Killer Bee, only had time to snap and crackle his cloak of Lightning Release before Obito used the chain that trailed behind him to capture the Jinchuuriki in his grasp and pull him into the space that he so freely traveled.
Even though it was a technique he used often, Obito couldn't act like he knew the mechanics of it all. Had his former sensei been alive, maybe he could understand the specifics, but Obito was never so inclined academically. What he did know, however, was that while he moved from one place to another in a short time, there was a place in between that he would travel to. It was a space that didn't quite belong to their reality, a space that was no different that the seals that Jinchuuriki were stored within when sealed amongst their containers. Blackness was in abundance, and yet there was enough light to see clearly when others were brought to this space. At their feet was no ground, only more darkness, yet it was still sturdy enough to stand upon. There was no air moving, no wind that blew, and yet Obito was breathing just fine. It was the perfect place to store those that wished to get away.
Obito let the clasps of the chains fall from his wrists as he leapt away from the mass of bodies he deposited in his special segment of reality. A hand found purchase on each body that wore a matching cloak as he as the Mangekyo of his right eye spiraled to life once again. It wasn't the Land of Rain that he shot out into, nor was it one of the battlefields that Nagato would likely send them to control to his discretion. Instead, it was a remote rock that stood tall above the surging waves of the cold northern sea. The air bit ferociously at Obito's skin, bringing a harsh sting to the wrinkled skin and pale scars on the right side of his body, but he wasted no time in throwing Kakuzu into the harsh waters.
"What the fuck are you doing you crazy bastard?" Hidan lashed out with his crass mouth as his body followed suit in an abundance of snapping movements to free himself from Obito's grasp. Instead of throwing the man in just as he did to Kakuzu, Obito tightened his grip on the man as he fished a kunai from under his cloak and went into the dirty work of slashing through the soft flesh of the neck. He was forced to slam the man onto the frozen stone before them, awkwardly squeezing Hidan's body onto the narrow sliver of land that they had access to, as his foot was pressed on the man's chest until his head was lopped off in a savage yell that echoed all the way down into the water. His master wanted a clear board, and that meant removing all that could be a threat to them at any point, no matter how slim of a chance it was.
When he re-entered his space, however, it was a lashing tentacle that met him instead of the calm silence he was used to. The tentacle forced Obito to endure the harsh cold for several seconds longer as the attack passed through him. When it cleared, Obito made himself solid within the gapped space in reality, saving his body from more weathering punishment, and it was an instant later that he found himself before the mighty wooden structure that had six grotesque eyes opened painfully wide with energies of various colors glowing within them. Standing next to him, in a stroke of convenience, was Nagato who stared at the same statue with purple ringed eyes that likely saw much more than Obito did.
"I had a feeling you would be coming here. I expect that you have the Eight-Tails in your grasp?" Nagato asked with a calm, almost tired voice. Obito looked at the man through his mask, the single hole clearly displaying the narrowing of his eye at the pale face that kept its attention elsewhere. Nagato, no matter what Obito did, always seemed to have a glimmer of insight to his movements. One of the many pieces that his master would want gone.
"I do, although I have resolved to wait until he becomes more cooperative." Obito's voice took the deep timber that matched the power that his faux-name held, even if the most competent knew how false it all was. Image was a powerful tool even if it was seen through.
What Obito didn't expect was for an intense glare of the Rinnegan to be turned on him with a determination unseen from the Uzumaki. Obito didn't know where such a powerful visual bloodline came from, how it sprouted from the sister-line of the Senju, but he knew that it was an obstacle he'd rather be without.
"Bring me to him. I will see that he is brought to heel. There is little time to waste. I have my own part to play in this war of ours." There was a glimmer to those last words within the mysterious eyes of Nagato. The implication was clear, even if the words themselves weren't. Despite playing in line with Obito's act, Nagato had no intention of playing the fool much longer. They would meet, and the winner of that battle would have agency over the entire continent. Tension was mounting, but it was one that Obito easily snickered off in his bassy voice. What was there to be concerned over? There was only one way this war would end.
"Of course. Let us see him then." Obito put a hand on Nagato's shoulder and they melted back into the darkness.
Insight. A strong word, I think. Something I wanted to do when tackling a war arc was making sure that there was sufficient insight on every side involved in the war. We've gleaned bits and pieces from the Cloud and Stone, we've heard from Orochimaru in the Sound and little bits from Nagato's Akatsuki. Here, I decided to look into what I have for Obito and his side of things. Motivations will be different, as will the execution, and I want to make sure I do it right. Obito's character was an odd one for me in the original.